Thursday, September 26, 2013

I’m not going to go into a philosophical rant here about how
important this week is (if you want that, read my POST from last year). What I will do is give you a few links to some
information about the week (and about banned/challenged books in general). And check THIS out. Just happened last week, right here in Minnesota. Timely, no? See also THIS MPR story from yesterday about the same incident/book in question. Sounds like a wonderful book. But apparently it teaches teens to swear!

Now, go out and read something subversive, like The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn. Seriously. You'll find it on most lists of books that are frequently challenged. We'd definitely be better off without ever having read anything by that Twain rascal. Right?

Tuesday, September 24, 2013

Last week, James Patterson, author of several best-selling thrillers (including the Alex Cross books) as well as some popular young adult fiction (like the Maximum Ride series), pledged $1 million dollars to struggling--but "viable--independent bookstores. They MUST, however, have a childrens section, as Patterson feels these booksellers are among the most important places for fostering a love of literature in kids. I heard about this story from my cousin, who read it in the most recent issue of The Week. But if you don't subscibe to that fine periodical, you can read about it on the LA Times website (among other places).

Sunday, September 22, 2013

Magic can be both awesome and awful. And young Oscar, hand to Caleb, the
first magician for generations in the Barrow, despite his knowledge of and
respect for all the things magic can do, begins to wonder if perhaps magic
doesn’t serve humans after all. Maybe it’s the other way around.

This is a fantasy story in which magic is kind of a fearful thing.This is a fantasy story with an unconventional
(and not-too-obvious) villain. This is a fantasy story with frequent (if subtle
and well-integrated) fairy tale allusions.This is a fantasy story that is lyrical and lovely and can be read as a
modern parable about economic and environmental responsibility—and the stumbly, difficult journey
through childhood (and life in general) for a person with autism.This is a fantasy story that invites the
reader to enter a fully-rendered magical world with empathy and to see things a
bit differently.

Seriously, the world-building here is phenomenal. I feel like I’ve been to
the villages, the city, and the Barrow, right along with Oscar and his new
friend Callie (the healer’s apprentice).Details describing what someone might see or hear or smell abound as do
particulars about the rules that govern behavior between those who peddle magic
and those who purchase it—and all of it has been woven subtly into the fabric
of the text.

It’s a world I almost actually want to inhabit—at least, until things start
going wrong.

The Real Boy by Anne Ursu

Walden Pond Press, 2013Illustrations by Erin Mcguire

The Shining People of Asteri (the purchasers) believe they are blessed. Only
good things will come to them. Fear and pain and sadness will stay far away.
Magic is like their religion, and it keeps them safe. But something is wrong
with several children in Asteri. They suffer from different symptoms. No cause
can be pinpointed. And the adult magic smiths (including Callie’s master, the
healer, and Oscar’s master, the magician), who are normally called on to help in
such situations, are off selling their goods and services on the mainland. Oscar
and Callie fear that perhaps the plague has returned—the plague that 100 years
before ravaged the community and ended the wizarding era.

And something monstrous is terrorizing the Barrow, tearing down trees,
ripping up storefronts, and attacking residents.

Oscar and Callie do their best, on their own, to solve the mystery and help
those who are suffering. But Oscar struggles daily, even moment-to-moment, with
loneliness and confusion and anxiety about how “different” he is and how
difficult it is to figure out how he should act or what he should say in every
social situation he encounters. Ursu captures this all so beautifully. We all
have moments we want to retreat to the cellar, as Oscar does, believing it’s
the only place we’re of any use (or simply to hide from the big, confusing, and
sometimes angry world). We’ve all felt odd, unwanted, or misunderstood some of
the time.But Ursu challenges us to
think about what it might be like to feel out-of-place all of the time. We are asked to step out of our comfort zones,
just as Oscar must, to see things from a different perspective, to allow our
preconceptions to be challenged, and to act.

Some final thoughts:

I am not a cat person, but this book almost
makes me want to be.Really.

I love so many lines from this novel—these are two of my favorites:

“There is something in the magic we have that is greater than the magic we
can do.”

“It was a beautiful lie that they had all been telling themselves—that
you could have magic without monsters.”

Spoiler Alert!

About Me

I am a graduate of the Hamline University MFA in Writing for Children and Young Adults program. I live in Minneapolis with my wife and son. I write. I read. I run. I work at a library. And I have a red beard.